Making a change for the better

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By Pastor Brad Butler

POSTED:September 30, 2013 9:00 p.m.

Today is bill-paying day. For me, this comes twice a month. I have divided my bills into the ones due on or around the first of the month, and those due on or around the 15th. About a week before those dates, I sit at my desk and write out checks for such things as the house note, power bill, phone bill and others. I then dutifully put the checks and bill stubs in envelopes, seal and stamp them, and then drop them off at the local post office. It is a rather quaint way of doing things, according to my sons. But I find it to be the most efficient, effective way to do my business. The fact is that more and more people pay their bills online. I admit that I have one that I pay that way. But I refuse to pay a fee to pay the bill online or over the phone, and there still are companies that charge for that. And on the majority of my bills, I simply find it easier to do it my old way. Once I write the checks and record them in my checkbook, I also type them into a ledger on my old computer that is not connected to the Internet. I keep running ledgers on my checking, savings and retirement accounts. Many of us do the things that we do because we are comfortable with our old ways. We’ve been doing them those ways for years, and change would not be easy for us. I admit that is the case with my bill paying. But I could change if I wanted to do so. It would be a challenge, but I could do it. Occasionally, someone says to me, “I can’t help the way I am. I can’t change. That’s just who I am.” And with those statements, many people have made the decisions to go on doing what they always have done, even it hurts others and themselves. We even reinforce this idea with sayings such as, “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.”I’m here to tell you that this idea is a lie. It is a lie that Satan wants you to believe, but it is a lie. Throughout the Bible, there are examples of people who changed. In the Old Testament, Joseph became a changed man. Jesus changed everything about the man named Zacchaeus. Plenty of other examples abound.The truth is that God is in the life-changing business. He wants to change your life and mine for the better. Are you willing to allow him to do that? You have to trust him. You have to obey him. But he can do it. We all need change from time to time. Let God change your life for the better.